The 3-2-1 backup rule serves as a tried and tested method for data protection and is highly recommended by most data protection experts. The basic principles involve having at least three copies of your data. One is the production data, and the other two are backup copies stored on different storage devices or media.
What is the 3 2 1 backup strategy?
Let’s first take a closer look at the 3-2-1 backup rule and why it is important when protecting business-critical data. The 3-2-1 backup rule prescribes, you have the following as it relates to copies of your data and your backup process:
- 3 copies of your production data
- 2 different types of backup media
- 1 copy off-site
When it comes to safeguarding your data, the 3-2-1 backup rule spreads the risk across different locations and types of media, drastically reducing the likelihood that you would lose all copies of your original data, both in production and with backups.
Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS)
Disaster Recovery as a service is a trend among enterprise environments, taking advantage of the overall trend towards SaaS services where you offload the heavy lifting of disaster recovery to a managed service provider specializing in this service.
Managed service providers who offer Disaster Recovery as a Service generally provide a cloud service allowing you to backup, replicate, and create a backup copy. These options help ensure your production data is copied in different locations and media and stored off-site.
Use the 3-2-1 rule to choose MSPs offering DRaaS
When selecting from a list of MSPs offering Disaster Recovery as a Service, use the 3-2-1 backup rule to create a short list of selections. If the DRaaS service doesn’t align with the 3-2-1 backup rule, you eliminate the vendor from the list.
Also, if this is a self-service offering, ensure the data protection solution has the features and capabilities to support 3-2-1 backups. A great example of this is BDRSuite which supports many different ways to create additional data copies, including VM replication and backup copies which are a part of the best backup strategy for most organizations.
The Role of Cloud Storage in Modern Backup Strategies
Cloud storage has increasingly become a core component of any solid backup strategy. Its remote nature offers an off-site backup, critical for protecting against local disasters. Moreover, cloud backup solutions often come with automated backups and data integrity checks, ensuring your data copy remains accurate and up-to-date.
We can also consider cloud backup as a separate type of “media” since it isn’t stored in the traditional sense to a set of hard disks on-premises.
Why Multiple Backups Matter
The need for multiple backups becomes clear with the increasing risks of data loss from human error, hardware failure, or accidental deletions. Multiple copies, especially with at least one backup stored off-site, allow for a wider safety net.
These off-site copies on a remote server serve as a safeguard against events such as natural disasters or even local fires, which could compromise data stored at the same location as the source data.
Recovering your data
Backup is just half the battle. The true test of a backup strategy lies in data recovery. Disaster recovery as a service goes beyond just data backup. It includes the processes, policies, and tools that ensure the speedy recovery of crucial data and restoration of business operations after a disruption.
When organizations agree with a managed service provider to provide Disaster Recovery as a Service, they are counting on the MSP to bring the expertise to the table to help engineer a solid DR plan that includes a strategy for quick recovery of your data. This includes workloads on-premises, in the cloud, and SaaS data found in the likes of Google Workspace and Microsoft 365.
Data Integrity and the Importance of Diverse Storage Devices
Relying on a single storage medium or device is a risk. Different storage devices like external hard drives, cloud service storage, and tape media offer varied benefits. By diversifying where and how data is stored, you safeguard against a single point of failure scenario. This practice, coupled with the 3 2 1 backup rule, assures that your important data remains protected across diverse situations.
In essence, you are spreading the risk across multiple devices and locations, drastically reducing the chance that you would lose all copies of production data.
Factors That Can Compromise Your Data
From natural disasters to hardware failures or even a simple human error, there are numerous threats to data. Off-site copies protect against local disasters, while using different storage devices minimizes the risk of a device-specific failure.
Recognizing the threat of data integrity loss over time is also important, so regular checks and updates to your backed-up data are crucial. Having the means to check virtual machine replicas and perform test failovers to a secondary site allows for verifying data integrity and the viability of failing over to the replicated workloads when needed.
Optimizing Storage Space
Having multiple copies is not enough if those aren’t good copies of your data. With cloud storage and other advanced storage devices, there are opportunities to optimize storage space without compromising data quality. Compression tools, deduplication, and choosing the right format can make a big difference in ensuring that your backup data is both ample and accurate.
Choosing the Right Service Provider for Cloud Backups and DRaaS
When venturing into cloud backups or opting for Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS), choosing the right service provider is essential. Key considerations include their data protection measures, backup best practices they adhere to, and the speed at which they can assist in data recovery.
BDRCloud
MSPs offering Disaster Recovery as a Service solutions must have the right data protection solution to properly protect tenant data. The BDRSuite solution provides effective cloud-to-cloud backup for Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace. It also provides cloud backup for endpoints, servers, applications, and databases. Note the following features:
- Backup the Microsoft 365 users data and restore from anywhere at anytime
- Backup the Google Workspace users data and restore from anywhere at anytime
- Backup files/folders from Endpoints (Windows & Mac)
- Backup files/folders from Servers (Windows, Linux, NAS)
- Backup individual Applications/DBs
It provides an excellent solution for MSPs and organizations to take control of their backup and disaster recovery procedures.
Wrapping up
As technology progresses, the ways data is protected must also evolve. Incorporating the 3-2-1 backup rule into data protection strategies is the best practice standard that helps ensure critical data is protected.
With the many threats that can compromise your data, adopting the 3-2-1 backup rule alongside a comprehensive disaster recovery plan is more crucial than ever. It offers strong protection against potential data loss and provides the peace of mind that your business operations and critical data will remain intact, come what may. Diversifying data across many different storage platforms and ensuring at least one copy is stored off-site greatly reduces permanent data loss.
Read More:
MSP Series: HIPAA Compliant Cloud Backup Requirements: Part 19
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